ETSU-R-97

One of the biggest issues likely to surround the proposed Lenchwick Windfarm is the question of noise.

In fact, it's very simple. Everyone who's ever been to a reasonably modern windfarm will know from experience that they're not noisy. More to the point, they're surprisingly quiet. They're the 'silent workhorses' that a local councillor from Ardrossan, Argyll, spoke about - and they should know, because their windfarm is less than a kilometre from the nearest dwellings.

A letter recently published in the Evesham Observer confirmed this. The writer had camped for several nights, along with many others, in a field with more than twenty wind turbines and wasn't disturbed at all by them. What's more, numerous turbines have sprung up around their holiday home in Brittany (the French are more sensible than us and just install the things, rather than giving nimby rats a chance to lie their heads off to all and sundry about them; the locals even hold a party whenever a French windfarm is opened!). Again, no experience of excessive noise or 'amplitude modulation'.

Truth be told, those of us in the Lenches region who have spent time near windfarms, and have even stood beneath the blades, know for a fact that VVASP have been lying like crazy about the noise they make. And, because we know, we've been banned from talking about it.

VVASP have, according to their Glorious Leader, visited 'many'. For some strange reason, the windfarms they have visited decided to be noisy when they were there. They're not noisy when anyone else visits them. Funny, that.

The cretins, frauds and liars of VVASP have come back from the beyond with weird stories to tell about windfarms. And even weirder stories to tell about the government guidelines on windfarm noise assessment and rating.

These guidelines were established by a working panel of experts in 1996 - their findings were published in a report known as ETSU-R-97.

A bunch of crazies who just don't like windfarms (or don't like the idea of having one a bit of a distance away from them) have been trying to claim that ETSU-R-97 is 'outdated'. Because it was drafted at a time when wind turbines were generally much smaller than they tend to be today, it is presumed that they must be out-of-date or, as an officer at Wychavon District Council put it, 'unfit for purpose'.

The first lie the nookies have been telling about ETSU-R-97 is that it was created by the wind power industry. WRONG. The panel of experts involved included noise experts, planning officers, civil servants, a solicitor ... and four representatives from renewable concerns. The overwhelming majority of the panel had nothing directly to do with the wind power industry.

ETSU-R-97 established the acceptable level of noise output, above the mean background level of noise (the sort of noise that is heard everywhere, like wind in the leaves, birds twittering, traffic in the distance, and so on). Now, here's where the arguments against ETSU-R-97 get really illogical.

The nimbies are trying to claim that, because modern turbines are somewhat bigger than the ones around when ETSU-R-97 was drafted, they must be noisier.

That, of course, goes against all the evidence, all personal experience and eye-witness testimony, and, of course, common sense. There have been continual adjustments and improvements to the design and manufacture of wind turbines in that time.

Put simply - wind turbines are QUIETER today than they were fourteen years ago.

So what's the problem with ETSU-R-97, then? Because, if turbines were indeed noisier today (they're not, but IF they were) then ETSU-R-97 would be more relevant than ever. Because ETSU-R-97 recommends an upper limit of 5dB above background noise levels for a windfarm, then noiser turbines would fail to meet the requirements of ETSU-R-97.

See? ETSU-R-97 is, in theory at least, the nimby's friend. If the claim that modern turbines are noisier than their earlier counterparts had any truth in it, ETSU-R-97 would make it a great deal more difficult for developers like ScottishPower Renewables to build windfarms.

Of course, the dumb statements by protest groups like VVASP have nothing whatever to do with whether or not ETSU-R-97 is 'unfit for purpose'. It's just another of their desperate attempts to fight the windfarm on any spurious grounds going.

If they can pretend that ETSU-R-97 is out-of-date, they reckon they can get the windfarm stopped because nobody knows what the guidelines on noise should be.

But if we look closely at their arguments, we find that they're totally self-contradictory and (as usual) make no sense whatsoever.

Here are the FACTS (as VVASP like to spell the word):

Modern wind turbines are even quieter than turbines were in the mid-90s.

The government has repeatedly confirmed that ETSU-R-97 remains in place as the official government guidelines on windfarm noise assessment.

ETSU-R-97 works just fine - if today's turbines genuinely were noisier, they would be more likely to fail the ETSU-R-97 test.

All anti-windfarm nimbies are liars, frauds and utterly stupid.